Kaibara Wizarding Academy
by titonka
Summary: Fruits Basket/Harry Potter Crossover: Tohru Honda, a young witch who has recently joined Kaibara Wizarding Academy in Japan a bit late for her age meets two peculiar boys, Yuki and Kyo Sohma. This obscure pairing of cousins definitely possess secrets they aren't yet willing to share with Tohru. Will they trust Tohru to say why?
1. The First Day

Gentle beams of sunlight touched down on Kaibara High School, highlighting its now glinting shade of navy blue. Flocks of chattering students zoomed through the doors, thinking themselves much too busy so much as to risk a _glance_ at their newcomer. The girl did not mind going unnoticed. She was not one for bathing in the spotlight anyway. Locks of her rich chocolate brown hair were pinned back with little blue bows. This would have given a very nice display of her face if not for the bangs that hung just above her thinly shaped eyebrows.

Her hands were limp at her sides with a photograph of a women aged in her mid-twenties beaming and shaking a peace sign for the camera. A sagging pointed hat obscured most of the women's hair that came up only just above her shoulders and was a strikingly vibrant shade of orange. 'I'm here, mom! I'm finally at Kaibara,' the girl thought cheerfully as she gazed into the crinkled eyes of her photographed mother.

"Hey," called a voice.

"M-mom?!" the girl gasped, shoving the photograph so close to her face, her nose touched the paper as she looked for the source of the voice.

Her mother's voice was quite a bit deeper than she'd last remembered..

"'Mom'? That's a new one," the voice muttered again with an air of irritation, almost as though this person had better things to do than speak with her. She spun around and nearly collided with a surprisingly tanned boy, who flinched back with startle at her sudden movement. It wasn't his dark complexion, or even the Crimson eyes that took her by surprise, but the same, flaming shade of rich orange hair that sat messily on his head. Strands of loose hair hung just over his eyes and there were two bits in the back that stuck straight up in opposite directions. This boy's hair, it seemed, was so untidy it defied gravity.

"My apologies if my cousin, here scared you," said a much gentler voice. Behind the brilliantly orange haired boy stood another boy. His hair framed his face asymmetrically. The right side was the longest and tapered off just to about where his chin was. This boy, like his cousin, also possessed a peculiar shade of hair. His hair most nearly resembled tinsel glinting on a Christmas tree.

Unlike his cousin, he had a kind grin pasted on his face. "My name is Yuki Sohma, and this," he said, gesturing with dull enthusiasm to his cousin, "Is Kyo Sohma. He's a bit of an idiot, but-"

"I'm not an idiot!" Kyo snarled through gritted teeth, stamping his foot rather like an overgrown child.

Yuki glanced with disinterest at Kyo before continuing, "Are you Tohru Honda?"

Tohru blinked a few times and let out a nervous laugh. "H-how did you know my name?"

Kyo rolled his eyes. "Gimme a break. You're the only kid without the proper robes on. Who else would the new kid be?"

Now that the boy had mentioned it, she _had_ yet to see a kid without robes like the two boys had on. They each had a kimono-like outfit draped around them. Kyo, it seemed, had rolled up his sleeves to sit at the ball of his shoulder and had a very deep v-neck. Yuki, on the other hand, had a much tighter fitting kimono with a collar that crept up his neck.

Aside from the difference in the way the boys had displayed the kimonos, the only other difference was the color. Kyo's was an intense, fiery red rather like his hair, and Yuki's, a deep sapphire. With each passing student, she remembered her eye catching the tails of their robes as they flitted passed her. The more she thought about it, the less colors she recalled. Red and blue, she had seen for sure... It was _possible_ there was a yellow... She scrunched her nose, as though the memories might flood back to her by this very action, but all it produced was a slight chuckle from Yuki and a twitching, lopsided grin that lasted only a second on Kyo's face before he choked it back down.

Kyo raised an eyebrow at her and said, "If you're done bein' a whacko, can we get this damn tour over with already?"

"Eh?! Tour?" Tohru repeated, turning frantically from Kyo to Yuki. "Y-you don't have to do that!"

"Yeah, we do gotta do that," Kyo huffed, folding his arms beneath his ribcage. "It's part of _my_ detention, and _his_ crappy student council thing. It's not like we want to."

"Unlike you, I'm happy to show Miss Honda around," Yuki replied coldly.

Tohru's hair swung to the floor as she sank into a low bow. "I'm so sorry to be such a bother!"

Yuki's lips parted in surprise and he reached out a comforting hand, but Kyo's hand enclosed her wrist before Yuki got the chance to rest his hand on her. "If you're so sorry, then what're you waiting for? Let's go already!" Kyo said, pulling her forward with such force, she stumbled to keep up with him.

Yuki gave her a closed lipped grin as his fingers found their way into her free hand.

As they tore through the hall, a few students here and there stopped in their tracks at the commotion. It must have been quite a sight, the redheaded boy marching down the hall with Tohru in tow and Yuki at her side. Kyo didn't have a need to push past any of his peers. They all scrambled out of his path and quickly went back to their conversations.

"Kyo has a bit of a reputation as a hothead," Yuki said, dropping his voice so low only Tohru could hear it. "Not that I think you'd let that go unnoticed."  
After shuffling through the long, narrow hallway, Kyo finally stopped at a massive open-mouthed archway. Both Yuki and Kyo stepped sideways to allow Tohru to take in the view of their destination.

A large dome ceiling soaring well above their heads warmly lit the spacious room as it reflected the cloudless, cerulean-blue sky that was illuminating the outside world at this very moment. There were four of the longest tables Tohru had ever seen in her life resting atop the glossy bamboo flooring. Each table proudly displayed a different color tablecloth. Green, yellow, blue, and red tablecloths with patterns that similarly matched the kimonos the boys were wearing elegantly draped the tables. Yuki hesitated at the handsome table with the blue cloth to seat himself, but Kyo kept marching until they hit red.

Tohru felt the grip on her wrist fade away as Kyo plopped himself onto the stiff red bench. She gently lowered herself to the seat directly across from him as Yuki slid next to her.

"Wow! It's amazing how much the tables match your robes!" Tohru exclaimed excitedly.

Kyo muttered something like, "Oh, geez.." under his breath after a tremendously noticeable roll of his eyes, but Yuki simply smiled and nodded encouragingly.

"Yes, the robes we wear were modeled for the same very reasons the tablecloths were, to show respect for the founders of Kaibara."

There was a brief moment where the mechanics embedded in Tohru's brain made a _click_ of comprehension. _So that must be why they have multiple uniforms!_ She thought.

"So then, you must have more than one founder of the school!" she said with fascination.

"Damn, you're so easy to please," Kyo mused, rubbing a knot out of the nape of his neck. "The houses are Gryffindor for Godric Gryffindor," he said, pinching his kimono. "It's for the bravest. Ravenclaw for Rolanda—"

"Ro _wena_ Ravenclaw, Kyo," Yuki corrected with a frown. He smiled and gestured to his robes. "Ravenclaw is my house. It symbolizes intelligence, creativity, and learning."

"Right, it's the lamest house," Kyo said, his tone implying the _obviously_. "The yellow one is Hufflepuff for Helga Hufflepuff. It's the second lamest house for the wusses who are loyal and value justice and all that B.S." Kyo waved his hand dismissively before pointing to the green table. "And _that_ is Slytherin for Salazar Slytherin. They're deceptive, crazy ambitious, and ruthless 'leaders,' apparently. All a bunch of assholes who can't stand not getting what they want.."

"Which is why Kyo nearly got sorted into Slytherin himself!" Yuki chuckled.

Kyo's cheeks burned a fiery red and he slammed his palm down on the table defiantly. "Shut the hell up! I did _not_ almost get sorted into Slytherin and if ya don't believe me, let's settle this like men and fight here and now, Girly-Boy!"

Tohru burst out into shaky laughter. "P-please don't fight! I believe you're in Gryffinfor!" In order to ease the tension Tohru brought up her pointer finger as an idea struck her and she quickly changed the subject. "Those names don't really sound Japanese, though.."

Yuki nodded in agreement. "Oh, they're not. If I had a guess, I would most likely choose an English-speaking country, but it's hard to be sure.

"Anyway, after they finished building a school in whatever country it is they originated in, they traveled to a select group of countries and developed a few more Wizarding Schools in their honor."

"But you're a fifth year too, aren't you? Shouldn't you know this?" Kyo interrupted, redistributing his weight on the bench so as to straighten himself up from his slouch.

Tohru's cheeks turned a rosy shade of red that rather matched the table as she gave a timid little nod.

"Then why ya need all this explained to you in the first place?"

Tohru's chocolate brown eyes sparkled at the chance to speak of this topic. "Oh, because of my mom!"

It was very evident Tohru had assumed her sentence would have cleared any confusion from the pair of cousins. Instead, however, Yuki's eyes glanced up at the ceiling, as if to guide him to the explanation and Kyo's eyebrows knitted together as he scratched his head.

"I studied under my mother until I turned 15!" she exclaimed jubilantly.

"You're a _homeschooled_ witch in Japan?" Kyo repeated with raised, unimpressed eyebrows. "I've never heard've that before.."

"My mother was Kyoko Honda!"

Taking the long pause of silence as her cue to give further information, she added, "The Red Butterfly!"

Yuki let out a small coherent _ohhh,_ but the words seemed to only increase Kyo's confusion.

"How in the hell did your mom manage to become a red butterfly?"

Kyo winced as Yuki threw a swift blow to the arm at him. "Not _literally_ , you idiot. Correct me if I'm wrong, Miss Honda, but I believe The Red Butterfly is the leader of a famous gang of Aurors, who took down dark wizards on their brooms."

Tohru's eyelids creased over in a smile much like the one her mother had given in the photograph as she beamed at Yuki. "That's right! They say her jacket looked like a red butterfly when she flew!"

Yuki grinned. "Yes, I've heard she was a very talented witch. Your schooling must've been quite something, Miss Honda. Do you mind my asking why you discontinued?"

The usual pleasant smile on Tohru's face faltered at once and Yuki thought he could have sworn her warm eyes glinted with tears before they hid under her shadow cast bangs.  
Kyo aggressively inclined his head forward, packed a fist into Yuki's bicep, and whispered loudly through gritted teeth, "What the hell did say that for, you bastard!? What'd ya have to go and make 'er cry for?!"

Tohru shot her trembling hands up and waved them back and forth frantically. "N-no!" she sniffled. "It wasn't anything you did, Sohma-kun! It's just.. My mother.. passed away about a year ago."  
Yuki whispered, "Oh, Miss Honda.." and placed a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder. Kyo's hand twitched a few times, as though seriously debating whether or not to pat Tohru's, but instead, gave her a sideways glance of concern. "A-anyway, she always said how she'd regretted never finishing her education," Tohru let a half-hearted hand flit around her to gesture at the Great Hall they were seated in. "My mother used to be a student here, so I thought, _what better way to finish my education than continue at the place my mother_ _learned in?_ "

She paused to wipe her damp tears with the back of her fists. A strained grin spread across her lips before turning from Yuki and Kyo. "S-so about this house thing! Do you get to pick your house, or-"

"Of course not.." Kyo responded hesitantly, careful to keep his usual snappy voice gentle, as well as avoid meeting her partially swollen eyes. "You don't get to pick your house; your house picks you."

Tohru's mouth hung open for a few seconds, as she glanced at Yuki for an explanation. Though she was nearly certain he would answer this, Yuki simply shook his head with delight.

"Just wait and see. It should be starting any minute now.."


	2. The Sorting Hat

The school's Great Hall was filled with echoed animated conversations bouncing off the domed walls with discordance.

A cold chill filled the room as a monotone voice said, "Silence." They spoke as though no one else was present in the room with them. Though the their tone was indifferent it also brought with it the ghost of a threat, as if daring a student _not_ to obey. They did not talk over the students, and yet the echoes died away in immediate obedience.

All eyes darted to the entrance as a pair of unhurried footsteps clapped along the bamboo flooring. Through the hundreds of heads obscuring her view, Tohru could just barely make out a very small androgynous character with intimidatingly beady black hair was spread unevenly, resembling an oil spoil in both shape and color. Their cold, dark eyes scanned the room for the slightest sign of disobedience, though, the students sat silently as they held their bated breath. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between students to assume their best behavior in the presence of this person.

"For those of you as uncultured as lowly Muggles who do not know me, you may address me as Headmaster Akito."

Though she could not see the Headmaster, Tohru could hear the smirk dancing to their lips as they paused, almost daring someone to speak out against them.

When no one did, they continued, "This year, I have put forth my... _personal_ efforts that the regulations on potions allowed within school grounds to be changed."

Out of the corner of her eye, Tohru thought she saw Kyo clench his jaw.

"Anyone who wishes to see these regulations," Akito's eyes darted hungrily towards the Gryffindor table, "should stop by my office to have a little chat.

"Now, now! Settle down!" Akito barked at the dull reverberation of her words. "It has come to my attention that we have been honored with the presence of a.. _celebrity,_ " Akito gave a sardonic wave of the hand. "Would the daughter of the world renowned Red Butterfly please stand?"

Tohru's elbow slipped out from under her as the table shuddered. Across from her, Kyo's hands had slammed down and were pressed into the table, his bottom hovering over his seat in debate of whether or not to make a stand. Before he was fully risen, Yuki let out an exasperated sigh and Kyo forcefully fell back into his seat, wincing and rubbing the tender bruise now forming on his shin after Yuki's brutal kick under the table. "As if Akito would listen to _your kind_ , you idiot!" he hissed, straightening his navy and bronze tie.

Kyo opened his mouth in protest, but quickly dropped his insult as Tohru stumbled to her feet. Though her own chocolate brown eyes focused on the beady eyes of the headmaster, she could feel the multicolored eyes of the thousands that attended Kaibara searching her.

"Honda... Tohru, was it?" Next to her, Tohru briefly caught Yuki muttering under his breath saying, "As if you don't know her name." Tohru hesitantly leaned forward in a sort of bashful bow/nod. The headmaster raised their brows at Tohru's devoted respect and politeness that they seemed so eager to crush. "Ah, yes, I've been told your mother stuck you with the name of a male." The headmaster gave a snicker, and once the cold, blackened eyes hit the crowd, the students broke out into a chorus of nervous laughter. Nearly all the students, it seemed, but Yuki and Kyo.

"Tell me, Miss Honda; I've been dying to know," Akito said with a throaty cough. Tohru couldn't be sure if it was to exaggerate the word _dying_ or the Headmaster really was suffering from some sort of illness. "Was your mother, the ' _Red Butterfly'_ as they now call her,trulyasgreat as they say? _"_

Tohru felt her spine shoot straight up as she furiously nodded. "Oh, yes! M-mom was the greatest!" Yuki gave her an encouraging closed-lipped grin. Akito's shrill shrieks of laughter pierced the corridor. " _Your_ mother? Kyoko? The greatest?!" A malicious grin flickered to Akito's lips as their head lowered, shoulders shaking with a laughter no one but them seemed to understand. "Are you **aware** of the detentions your mother had to serve only as a first year? Or the indescribable amount of so-called 'harmless' jinxes she performed on her peers with her hoard of devoted followers? Oh, yes, your mother was something, but nothing of admiration."

Tohru's stomach churned with a tinge of nausea. Headmasters were supposed to encourage the students to learn, weren't they? Tohru's lips formed a small oval shape as she curled an enthusiastic fist over her heart. "Yes! Mom was definitely a troublemaker back in her day, but she still put her heart and soul into learning magic and she became one of the greatest witches there was, even with a mischievous background!" Her eternal pride for her mother brought a surge of passion into her scarlet cheeks. "Mom is my hero!"

The headmaster ground their teeth so hard, Tohru could nearly hear bits of bone scraping off. "Very well.. Then I'm sure you won't mind being the first to participate in the House Sorting? This isn't typically how Sorting operates, but surely, your _hero_ has already informed you of this much."

Tohru felt her cheeks grow a deeper shade of red, already beginning to stress about undoubtably making a fool of herself.

 _I wasn't trying to gloat.. s_ he thought glumly.

She had just barely lowered her head into an apologetic bow when she caught sight of Yuki nodding insistently at something to his back left. At first, Tohru thought maybe she had caught him in an embarrassing twitch and politely averted her eyes. Just as her gaze fell from Yuki, she gasped as a quick, sharp pinch in her elbow grabbed her attention. Kyo had lightly pinched the skin on the back of her elbow, rather to grab her attention than do any harm. He mouthed _pay attention!_ Andjabbed his finger back in Yuki's direction. Yuki glanced behind his shoulder, his eyes grazing the headmaster before he turned back to Tohru. Just as he'd suspected, Akito only had eyes for Tohru at the moment. Yuki raised his hands just slightly above his head and as he lowered them down towards his jawline, he curled them into fists.

"Y-you.. " Tohru whispered frantically, watching Yuki continuously bringing his fists towards his jaw and pausing to jerk his head backwards. "Sorting is a type of dance...?"

Kyo squeezed his eyes shut in frustration before hissing under his breath, "It's a _hat_ , genius!"

And then Yuki's periodic head bobs and hand gestures finally made sense! An ancient, worn, and horribly patched wizard's hat stained heavily with random spurts of deep greens Tohru couldn't help but wondered if it was mold. Doing her best to ignore the eyes of the entire school following her, she cautiously stepped towards the hat. "Highly doubtful she'll be a Gryffindor like her mother, don't you think?" She heard Akito murmur to a taller man with rustic hair who stood silently at her side as Tohru gingerly placed the hat atop her head. She had been hesitant to touch it, as it was so worn away at the seams, a mere poke might cause it to collapse, but it was much sturdier than she had anticipated. It had just barely hit a hair on her head when a booming voice roared, " ** _HUFFLEPUFF!_** " in her ears.

The Hufflepuff table broke out into a small applause, eyeing Akito anxiously all the while, who appeared to have a smug, self-satisfied grin tugging at their lips. "Yes, Hufflepuff seems to suit her quite well, don't you agree, Kureno? The Pushover House?" The rustic haired man gave a dry smile in return, though didn't nearly seem as engaged or interested as the headmaster.

Much to the Great Hall's disbelief, Tohru hurried back to the Gryffindor table to resume her conversation with Yuki and Kyo. Both boys' brows furrowed as their mouths hung open. Yuki, for the first time since Tohru had met him looked rather nervous. His back had stiffened and he risked another backwards glance at Akito. Kyo, on the other hand was waving his arms towards the Hufflepuff table. "What the hell're you doin' over here?! This is the wrong table! Go to that one!"

Akito, of course, hadn't missed a beat and cheerfully chimed in, "Miss Honda, do you feel the House has incorrectly placed you? Do you perhaps disagree with the hat's assortment?" Tohru's eyebrows shot up and she frantically waved her hands in front of her chest. "Eh? N-no, not at all! I just wanted to talk to my friends!"

"Friends?! You've already made friends, how sweet," the headmaster purred behind a façade of good intentions. "And indeed, it appears you've 'befriended' my dearest younger cousins, nonetheless!"

Tohru felt a knot tighten somewhere in the pit of her stomach. Kyo and Yuki couldn't be related to Akito! They were nothing like the headmaster! They were such kind boys! No, she couldn't judge them based on their family tree!

"Yes, Yuki and Kyo are quite the pair. But it appears no one has informed you of their backgrounds?" Akito's beady eyes darted from Yuki, who let loose a small groan, and Kyo who had slumped forward to burry his head into his arms. "No?! It appears they were trying to decide you, dear Tohru. They are not what they appear. Mark my words, these boys will bad for you and if choose to ignore my warning and grow attached to them, they will cause you nothing but harm."


	3. Kyo's 'Girlfriend'

**Author's note:** I sorted Kagura into Slytherin because of her strong ambition, not because I view her as an evil character.

* * *

Immediately after warning Tohru, the headmaster stalked out of the room, dragging Kureno unnecessarily by his robes. Akito, it seemed, had attended the Great Hall simply as a reminder that they were in charge.

"That's not why!" Kyo hissed, trembling the table with a slam of his fists. "It's because _you're_ here, that's why. Akito _never_ comes out of his office!"

Yuki nodded almost as if he hadn't noticed Kyo's assault on the table. "I think what Kyo means to say is Akito's jealous of your mother's fame. According to him, _he_ is the most famous wizard there is."

"-Which is a complete joke," Kyo interrupted. "I've never even seen the guy use a simple countercurse. It's always that his little magic monkey Kureno who does his spells for him."

"Because he's ill," Yuki said in explanation to Tohru's puzzled expression. For some reason, she'd always assumed headmasters were required to be the most outstanding wizard in the entire school.

"He's a Squib, if ya ask me."

"As usual, no one did."

From across the table, a flash of mahogany caught Tohru's eye. Kyo cast a sharp shadow on his peers as he loomed over the rest of the Gryffindors, suddenly on his feet. _"Tarantallegra,_ " he shouted, his fist trembling with an unforeseen rage, his wand tightly wedged between his whitening knuckles and pointing directly at Tohru!

There was a sharp jolt in her chest, as she desperately threw her hands over her head to shield herself. "I-I'm sorry! I don't-"

Kyo's crimson eyes flickered momentarily in her direction and the taut muscles in his jaw involuntarily relaxed as he gave her a questioning look.

Tohru drew in a sharp breath in preparation for whatever curse Kyo hit her with, but when it was followed with nothing but silence, she peeked between the slits of her shielded hands. The pulsating vein in Kyo's neck stood out against his now reddening face. His eyes bulged with strain and his lips periodically twitched into a frustrated sneer.

"I-is he okay?!" She asked, immediately outstretching her hands to Kyo with a burning desire to fix whatever internal struggles he was now facing. "He's fine," Yuki said quickly. Just as soon as she had finished her sentence, Yuki had cut in with his response. The reply was sharp and final, although still entirely polite. A light silver wand sat in his hand, lazy inclined at Kyo. "Y-Yuki-kun, do you think we should take him to the infirmary?!" Tohru asked, watching Kyo open and close his mouth spasmodically. Yuki's eyes that had previously been giving their full attention to the enchanted dome (or perhaps, anywhere other than Kyo) briefly set on his cousin. He gave a small sigh and wordlessly flicked his wand once more. His chest rapidly expanded as he gasped for air. Of course, the _silencio_ spell didn't affect one's air intake, but it seemed both screaming and breathing were a necessity for Kyo and one couldn't function without the other. "You _bastard_! You and your _damn_ silent spells!" He gasped, pointing his wand threateningly at Yuki. "I'll make you pay for that! I-"

"I didn't know if you were going to curse Miss Honda," Yuki said with a simple shrug of indifference.

"Wha-?! _Her?!_ " Kyo asked, the aggression in his tone quickly slipping into genuine confusion. "Why the hell would I wanna curse her? You're the one that pisses me off!"

"With your idiotic anger issues-"

Once more, Kyo's fist collided powerfully against the table, causing Tohru's heart jumped into her throat once more. She flinched backwards and nearly flew off the bench in surprise as Kyo shouted, "I DON'T HAVE ANGER ISSUES!"

"Of course you don't, Kyo-kun!" chirped a feminine voice from somewhere behind Kyo. A hand snaked around his neck and pulled him either into what was either a loving embrace or a deadly headlock. The culprit, a female brunette perhaps a head shorter than Tohru pressed her cheek against a purple-faced Kyo, who was struggling against the girl's grip. Her hair fell just below her shoulder blades. Two locks of hair hung loosely on either side of her heart-shaped face and had seemingly escaped from being secured with the matching orange tabby cat Bobby-pins that pinned back the rest of the hair in the two small sections around her face. The silver and green scarf curled neatly around her neck caught Tohru's eye immediately.

 _So she's a Slytherin!_ Tohru recalledproudly, _She must be ambitious!_

Kyo craned his neck as far away from the girl as one could while being forcibly hugged. He seized the girl's forearm in an attempt to peel her off of himself, but the girl didn't seem to notice. She placed her free hand gently on the crevice between his neck and shoulder. "Kyo-kun, you didn't call me at _all_ this summer! Don't you know that breaks my heart?"

"K-Kagura," he gasped. Tohru could feel the gusts of air hitting against her shins as he kicked his feet during the struggle for freedom. "Go the hell away! Let go'a me!"

Kagura forced a loving smile down at Kyo. Her hand clamped down hard on the space between his shoulder and Tohru could see Kagura's perfectly filed nails disappearing into Kyo's robes and piercing his skin. "Now, Kyo-kun, Is that any way to speak to your girlfriend?"

"Ah, Kyo-kun, I didn't know you had a girlfriend!" Tohru said, clasping her hands together in excitement.

"That's because I don't!" His attempts at wriggling out of Kagura's grip seemed to be tiring.

"It isn't nice to **_tell lies_**!" Kagura's lips thinned in concentration, probably assuming all her energy for stabbing Kyo with her nails.

"OW, QUIT CLAWIN' AT ME!" he shouted. Kagura's grip around Kyo's neck loosened defeatedly, allowing Kyo to nudge himself free of her.

Kagura's lower lip pouted out and began to tremble as she fought back a sob. "You're the worst, Kyo-kun! I'm never speaking to you ever again!" she called over her shoulder as she dashed away from the Gryffindor table.

"That'd be a dream come true," Kyo muttered, bringing a comforting hand up to soothe the damage Kagura had caused his shoulder. "She's nuts, that girl."

Kyo'sexplanation of the Slytherin table came back to her all at once, _They're deceptive, crazy ambitious, and ruthless 'leaders,' apparently. All a bunch of assholes, who can't stand not getting what they want.."_

 _Could that have been about Kagura, I wonder?_ Tohruthought, _Maybe that's why Kyo-kun dislikes Slytherin so much.._

Yuki's gentle voice pulled her from her thoughts, "Miss Honda? Are you coming?"

Tohru hardly needed to scan her surroundings to notice a lot has happened in the few seconds she'd been spacing out! The house tables that had just a minute ago been packed with students were now nearly vacant. Both Yuki and Kyo were on their feet, Kyo rolling his eyes impatiently and Yuki tilting his head while awaiting her response.

"U-umm.. I'm sorry, where are you going?"

"I told you she wasn't payin' any attention!" Kyo said, shooting Yuki an accusatory jab of his finger. Yuki smiled down at Tohru. "Our class schedule, Miss Honda."


	4. Scheduling

Yuki lead Tohru through the congested queue of chattering students that was very gradually thinning out. "It shouldn't be long now," Yuki reassured Tohru. While it seemed to be true, Tohru figured it was more likely than not due to Kyo's persuasive skills, rather than the students picking up their schedules quickly.

Apparently, the redhead didn't have the patience for waiting his turn. All it took was a lazy prod in the back with his wand and the words, "Move," and the freshmen scattered like a bunch of bats out of Hell. After a few minutes the trio made their way to the front of the line.

When the final cluster of students collecting their schedules had dispersed from view, Tohru was finally able to see what—and _who_ they were all crowding around. Directly adjacent from the arches indicating the Great Hall's exit was a small diamond-shaped table Tohru hadn't noticed before.

'Probably because it really _wasn't_ there a minute ago!' she reminded herself.

At the head of the table stood a man with magnificently intricate designs on his elegant emerald robes. His long white hair was pulled in a fairly loose braid that trailed down to his mid-thighs. Tohru could safely say the man had the best posture out of anyone she had ever met. His chest puffed out about a mile with pride.

A sudden rush of déjà vu shot through Tohru the closer she looked at the man. 'Was he a friend of Mom's?' she wondered, though, as soon as the thought had crossed her she knew that was wrong.

Yuki took an immediate reflexive step backwards as the man came into sight. He squeezed his eyes shut for so long, Tohru wondered if he were possibly attempting to turn himself invisible. His eyebrows furrowed dangerously close together as he took a sharp inhale through his nose. From the corner of her eye, Tohru noticed Kyo delivering very similar behavior. The two of them also seemed to be exchanging curses.

The man's eyes hungrily scanned the trio. What he was searching for, Tohru would probably never know, although it appeared he had found it because he let out a loud theatrical gasp that rung throughout the entire Great Hall.

"Are my eyes deceiving me or could this truly be!? Dear Yuki, is that you?"

Yuki balled his hands into fists as he took a step towards the man grinning down at him. The corners of his mouth were pulled into a tight closed-lipped frown. "We're just here to get our schedules, Ayame. We can't stay to chat."

"Ah, yes, yes, the school schedule," he sung happily. Ayame talked with broad unnecessary hand gestures and held eye contact almost uncomfortably. "Now Yuki, a little birdy, Kureno, of course, has told me you, _Yuki_ , have officially joined Student Council! I must say, I was splendidly surprised, as I recall you telling me you would 'rather _die_ ' than join Student Council."

He continued making his exaggerated hand movements with his free hand, while the other carelessly flicked his wand. The first series of flicks conjured up a pocket-sized sheet of white paper, to which Tohru could faintly read the words 'Yuki Sohma' on the top. Even while producing spells, Ayame's talking had not stopped, or even slowed. "I myself was a wonderful President to the Student Council. Just ask Ha'ari ahahaha!"

Out popped another sheet of paper with the words, 'Kyonkichi Sohma,' sprawled on them. Tohru let out a small irrepressible gasp at the sight. Of course, the name 'Kyo' did sound like awfully short for a full name, but it hadn't occurred to her that he could be have a longer name she didn't know about! She glanced at Kyo, who merely scowled at the paper.

"Why'd you gotta write, 'Kyonkichi' on there?!" he hissed as he snatched the sheet out of Ayame's grasp.

"Well, now, because Kyonkichi, I would be doing your parents an injustice if I censored your true name. You should _embrace_ it, Kyon! And do write about our encounter in your diary, will you? You'll need as many tips as you can get to survive in this cruel world with your astonishingly low IQ, Kyonkichi!"

Before Kyo got the chance to release the anger that was undoubtedly building up in him, Ayame had already moved on. "And who could this possibly be, Yuki?" he asked, his yellow-green slits landing cautiously on Tohru. His voice rose as he added, "Dare I say you, Yuki, the ruggedly handsome knight in shining armor has discovered a princess to accompany the prince during his most lonely nights?!" Both Yuki and Tohru's cheeks had begun to develop a deep reddish tint to them.

"Shut up, it isn't like that at all, you idiot. Her name is Tohru Honda. Just make her her schedule already," Yuki said coolly. Though his voice was calm, clearly the rest of him wasn't because he was smoothing out the creases in his schedule so vigorously the paper ripped. He muttered a curse under his breath and tapped his wand against the sheet of paper until the hole in the paper creased itself back together.

"'Tohru Honda'," Ayame repeated, as though testing her name. "Hmm, yes, it's alright. It's definitely better than, 'Kyonkichi!' ….Though, most things are." He gave an overly enthusiastic chuckle as he cast the spell to construct Tohru's schedule.

The minute he handed her sheet to her, both Yuki and Kyo had wrapped a hand around her wrist and begun dragging her out to the hall.

"Wait, wait, you're leaving so soon!? Yes, alright, goodbye, then! Tohru, darling, come by my classroom _any_ time, I mean it! A friend of Yuki's will be treated _very_ highly. As long as you're not Kyon-"

 _"_ _Silencio,"_ Kyo snarled, jerking his wand over his shoulder.

Tohru immediately stopped walking and gripped Kyo's wrist. He flinched back from her grasp, but didn't make move to pry himself free. "Ah, wait, Kyo-kun! Y-you can't do that to a teacher! You'll get in trouble!"

He stared back at her for a few moments before his confusion morphed into partial amusement. The corners of his lips tugged into an awkward, lopsided grin. To her amazement, he actually laughed. "Do ya really think I've never gotten in trouble before, Tohru? …Anyway, you don't gotta worry about it. There's no way I'll get in trouble for puttin' a silencing charm on Ayame."

Tohru's thinly shaped brows knit close together in confusion. "Umm.. But.. why won't you get in trouble for that?"

"Because," Yuki chimed in, making a point to keep his back to them as he continued to walk forward, "we're related."


	5. The Personalis Imitari

Author's Note: ***Ritsu noises*** ** _I'M SO SORRY THIS CHAPTER WAS SO OVERDUE!_** I had a **HUGE** exam, so I apologize for the delay in posts. I will try to post more regularly from now on. Anyway, I hope you like the new chapter!  
 ___

"Related!?" Tohru spluttered, almost jogging to keep up with the two Sohma boys who seemed to be in quite the hurry to escape Ayame's suffocating presence. "O-oh! He's another cousin of yours?" she guessed. Yuki shook his head. "If only," he murmured, his silver hair casting a gloomy shadow over his eyes. "No, unfortunately for me, Miss Honda, that idiot is my brother."

"You and Ayame-san look alike!" she blurted, finally piecing together the inexplicable déjà vu she'd been overcome with earlier. When Yuki responded only with a perfectly shaped brow raised in perplexity, she carried on with an explanation. "Ah, sorry! What I meant was, I thought maybe I'd seen him somewhere before since he looked so familiar, but I finally realize where I recognize him from! He looks familiar because he looks a lot like you, Sohma-san," Tohru explained, the lids of her eyes crinkling up in an enthusiastic smile.

The color in Yuki's cheeks suddenly flushed a light shade of pink. His lips thinned and Tohru could immediately see this wasn't a compliment for Yuki, but before she got the chance to apologize, Kyo called from behind both of them, "Hey, you two Dingbats done yappin' over there? We've got a class to get to, ya know."

"Oh right! I wouldn't want to be late on my first day! Umm…" Tohru gracelessly shuffled around the books under her arm until she finally found a creased sheet of paper: her schedule. "I have… Herbology with the Gryffindors…"

Tohru's eyes gleamed as she looked up at Kyo with eager anticipation. Maybe she wouldn't have to go to her first class alone after all! "Ah, Kyo-san! Do you think that means we have class together?!"

"I guess.." he said, though, if he was enthusiastic about this, he did a very good job hiding it. Regardless, Kyo curled his fingers around Tohru's wrist and began dragging her down the hall. "Come on, I'll show you where it is. Just don't slow me down." Tohru nodded as she stumbled to keep up with Kyo's long strides. "Y-yes! Bye, Sohma-san!" Yuki gave a closed-lipped grin and waved goodbye before heading the opposite direction for his class.

From what Tohru could tell, the Herbology room was quite far away from the Great Hall. By the time they got there, Tohru's wrist had a light red imprint of Kyo's fingertips imbedded in her skin to remind her of the duration of their walk. The classroom was painted a bright cheery yellow and the walls were lined with numerous types of plants Tohru had never seen in her life. A brilliantly flowered plant sitting on the windowsill rocked back and forth. At first, Tohru thought perhaps a breeze from outside the window had been rocking the plant, but then she realized the window was shut and the plant was moving on its very own!

 _What a wonderful class!_ Tohru thought as she and Kyo took their seats in the back of the room.

"U-umm, excuse me, class. May I please have your attention?" said a soft voice from the very front of the room. At the head of the class, stood who Tohru assumed must have been their professor. The professor wore a pale yellow satin kimono that nearly matched the walls and had flowing strawberry blonde hair that hit just at the shoulders. It was elegantly pinned back with a dark magenta bow. The amount of eye contact she gave the class was brief. She held a small notecard in a hand that steadily shook.

"My name is Professor Sohma, b-but you can all call me Ritsu. I'll be your Herbology teacher, as well as the Head of the Hufflepuff house."

 _Wow, another Sohma! This is really wonderful!_ Tohru thought, clasping her hands together as she listened to her new professor.

"U-umm.. for today's first assignment, I thought it might be fun to study _Personalis Imitari._ This plant is very unique to the magical world and it reacts differently for each person. _Personalis Imitari_ is a plant that mimics the personality of the individual who plants it. To make myself clearer, the plant should take on a similar personality to yourself." Ritsu uneasily held up a seed for the class to see and carefully buried it in the dirt of a potted plant. Within seconds, the plant had sprung to life. The plant sprouted a small, lively yellow flower that immediately began frantically bowing to the class. During one of its many bows, the plant collided with a neighboring shrub. The _Personalis Imitari_ began hysterically zooming around in circles, shedding each of its petals that had now turned a gloomy shade of blue. It then proceeded to curl up into a ball and wither.

There was a moment of awkward silence in the class and before Tohru knew what was happening, Ritsu's nose touched the carpeted floor of the classroom as she dropped to her hands and knees in an apologetic bow. _**"I'M SORRRYYYYYYYY! I HAVE FAILED YOU ALL! I'M A USELESS PROFESSOR! MY PLANT WAS SUCH A DISGRACE! I APOLOGIZE! I APOLOGIZE FOR MY PATHETIC EXISTAAAAAANCE!"**_

Tohru leapt up from her seat, raising her hand as she did so in case speaking out in class was against the rules. "EH, PROFESSOR RITSU! I THOUGHT YOU DID A GREAT JOB! PLEASE DON'T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF!"

A pair of chocolate brown eyes brimming with tears peered up at Tohru through the sleeves of Ritsu's Kimono. "Y-you really think so?"

"Yes! I'm very anxious to learn about the…" The compassionate smile on Tohru's face melted at once when she realized she couldn't remember how to say the name of the plant. " _The Person_ … _Personal_ … _Imi_ … Umm.. I'm excited for today's lesson!"

It took a moment for Ritsu to collect herself, but before long, she was handing each of the students their own seedlings and pots. Tohru anxiously turned to Kyo, who was leaning back so far in his seat, she was a little worried he might slip off! "Kyo-san, are you excited to—"

"Could you knock that off?" he asked. The annoyance on Kyo's face was very visible between his narrowed crimson eyes and closely-knit brows.

"Eh, s-sorry! I won't do it again!" The silence between Tohru and Kyo was impenetrable and uncomfortable. Tohru stole small glances at Kyo, who either didn't notice or didn't care. She pursed her lips for a moment before cautiously proceeding, "Umm.. But Kyo-san, what is it I shouldn't be doing again?"

Kyo let out an exasperated sigh. "It's that damn _'-san'!_ Quit it already. I don't like bein' called '-san'! Just call me Kyo.."

A pang of guilt hit Tohru in the chest. _Has Kyo-kun been upset by me calling him san this whole time?_ She thought glumly. She hadn't meant to offend him! "Ah, okay, then, Kyo- _kun_! Are you excited to find out about your plant?"

"Not particularly.." he responded, rolling the seed between his fingers. Tohru's slight disappointment must have come across on her face because he quickly added, "But don't feel bad. I'm never interested in Herbology. That's Yuki's thing.. Not mine. Besides, Ritsu.. He's just kinda nuts.."

 **"EH- EH- EH!** ** _HE?!_** **"** Tohru suddenly felt a bit dizzy. "U-umm but I thought.."

"Oh, right. Yeah, _he_ … Ritsu's actually a lot more calm when he's dressed like this—like a girl, if you can believe it."

With the blood pounding in her ears at the sudden shock and guilt of misunderstanding Ritsu's gender, she just whispered, "I see…" as Kyo pushed back the sleeves of his kimono so as not to soil the fabric. There was really no need, though. As far as Tohru could tell, he had already rolled them as high as they could possibly go.

Before she could sulk any more about her mistake, there was a dazzling flash of white before a glint obscured parts of her vision, forcing her to see the outline of a circle whenever she blinked. Turning her head in all sorts of odd angles in attempt to see around the outline shielding her vision, she finally came to the source of the reflection. Upon first meeting the Sohmas, Tohru's mind felt overloaded with information: their unusual hair color, their sophisticated kimonos, their unique facial features… Each thing required its own attention and apparently, Tohru had been so absorbed with the big picture of their appearances, that she had missed the details!

It was only now that Tohru's attention was brought to the captivating bracelet on Kyo's left wrist. The color scheme was nothing spectacular. The bracelet was threaded together by closely strung beads in alternating shades of cranberry red and a white that had been slightly discolored from age. Remarkably, none of the paint had chipped off yet, but the deep splinters in the beads hinted Kyo hadn't been their first owner.

"Yo, Space Cadet!" called Kyo, plummeting her back into reality. "Didja plant your seed already? Doesn't look like it…"

"Eh, no, I haven't! I guess I zoned out.." Tohru felt her cheeks turn a rosy shade of pink and she gave Kyo a goofy lopsided smile somehow completely different than his own. "Pretty silly, huh?"

Tohru touched her finger to the moist dirt, creating a small hole in the process. She dropped her _Personalis Imitari_ seed into the dirt and brushed a light layer of dirt over it. A soft, fuzzy vine sprouted from the dirt only seconds later! The bud of the stem bloomed into one of the most lovely flowers Tohru had ever seen in her life! The only flower Tohru could think to compare it to was a lotus flower. The flower blossomed as slowly and gracefully as she would have expected of something this beautiful. The petals were a delicate shade of bubblegum pink, growing more and more vibrant the closer it was to the center. The heart of the flower was where it shone the brightest. The center was made up of an alarmingly vibrant lemon yellow that gave off a light glow that warmed the colors. The flower, _her_ flower swayed cheerfully from side to side.

 _T-this flower represents me as a person? What an honor…_ Tohru thought, already beginning to feel herself tearing up.

From beside her, she heard Kyo say, "Umm.. Does this thing have teeth…?"

His _Personalis Imitari_ was entirely different by comparison. Kyo's seedling hadn't quite sprouted a flower, rather, it sprouted a _thing._

In the simplest of terms, the plant was one very large jaw attached to a stem, something like a venus fly trap plant. It had a circular head that was split horizontally by one thin line down the middle. The only major difference between a venus fly trap and Kyo's _Personalis Imitari_ was what indeed looked like thousands of tiny fangs that lined the top and bottom of the jaw in rows that went back as far as Tohru could see. They may have been small, but Tohru guessed one tooth would be like slicing your skin on a razor. Kyo's plant swayed too, however, where Tohru's swayed peacefully, Kyo's swayed like a boxer bouncing on the balls of his feet, while waiting for a fight.

"He looks intimidating, but I'm sure he's friendly!" Tohru assured Kyo, who squinted at his plant, like maybe he wasn't seeing correctly. As intimidating as the plant was, she knew it wouldn't hurt her. The plant was like Kyo-kun, wasn't it? If that was the case, she had 100% belief it would not hurt her.

To prove her theory, (either to herself or Kyo, she still wasn't sure) she touched her finger to the head of the _Personalis Imitari._ When she came near it, it gave off a faint hiss, but as soon as her finger came in contact with it, it stayed put. "S-see, Kyo-kun! It won't bite.. It just _looks_ scary, but it's actually very sweet."

 _Just like you!_ She thought as she removed her finger, but decided to keep this thought to herself, since it sounded more like an insult than a compliment.

"Man, you're a weird little bastard, arencha?" Kyo muttered to it, hesitantly mimicking Tohru and sticking his hand out. The closer Kyo's hand got to it, the louder the plant hissed. "Eh!? He likes _you_ but not me? What the hell is with that? Isn't he supposed to symbolize me or some- **OUCH!** "

Kyo's yelp echoed throughout the now silent classroom. Tohru knew what she was going to see even before she turned in his direction, but she never could have guessed how bad it would be.

His face was screwed up in pain and it was very clear why. Blood oozed down his hand as the jagged razor-sharp teeth of the plant sunk into his skin. The _Personalis Imitari_ had taken a massive chunk out of his left hand, which now was gushing blood, and _gushing_ was the only word she could use to describe it. Their desk was now engulfed with a thick pool of blood and Kyo's hand was steadily feeding the pool more with each large droplet that fell from it.

Tohru's stomach twisted and turned until it felt as though it had crawled into her throat. She wanted very much to help, but she didn't think she had the strength to stand. It felt as though an anvil was dropped on her lap, leaving her body immobile from the waist down.

Most of the class had swarmed him by this point and through heavy sobs and apologies, Professor Ritsu pointed her wand at the plant and shot out a stream of white light.

 _"He's bleeding!"_ screamed a girl, though the voices were nearly drowned out by static, as though from a TV.

"You have blood on your bracelet, you'd better take it o-" cried another.

Through very blurry vision, she saw the girl reach for Kyo's wounded hand, who immediately jerked it back like she was some kind of a rabid dog. Tohru then heard Kyo very distinctly hiss back, "Get.. Away from me! My bracelet isn't any of your _damned_ business! Don't you _ever_ try to touch it again, hear me? _Ever!_ " Kyo generally seemed on the brink of anger, but she realized she had misunderstood. All the times she thought she had seen his full potential of anger, when Kagura had grabbed him, when Yuki had ridiculed his magic abilities, these were all just moments of mere irritation. Now she was catching the slightest glimpse into his full potential of rage. His crimson eyes radiated hostility. And though she had known he was tall from the start, it was the first time she noticed he casted a menacing shadow as he towered over the poor girl.

Tohru remembered thinking this was such a peculiar way to act about a bracelet. Considering a huge chunk of his flesh had been ripped from his hand, it seemed rather irrational for his concern to be the state of his bracelet over that of his health, but somehow, he sounded much more upset about losing his beads than losing his skin. But she didn't have time to process the words. She was getting so woozy so fast. The student's reply, along with the rest of the world gradually tuned out. Her hearing was fading much faster than her vision. Tohru felt herself beginning to slide off her chair, but she didn't know if some caught her or if she hit the floor because before she could find out, the room swirled into a dizzy, inky blackness before disappearing from her vision. And then the world faded to black.


	6. The Kaibara Nurse

Author's Note: AHH YOU GUYS ARE SO SWEET! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE WONDERFUL FEEDBACK AND I REALLY HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING THE STORY SO FAR! I promise we're getting to the good stuff :*

* * *

The hushed whispers of the room came to life long before she could attach a visual to the origin of the noises. But before Tohru could strain her ears to make out what the faceless beings were saying, they were gone.

Though her eyes remained shut, the darkness still managed to spin, which only reinforced her lingering nausea. The weight of her own body was impossibly heavy and it would seem the imaginary anvil had remained on her chest, after all.

Her thoughts clumsily tried to begin piecing themselves together like a mismatched the memories had begun flooding back to her. Professor Ritsu casting a blurry spell. Slipping out of her chair. Planting the seeds of dancing flowers. The darkness engulfing her as her hearing and vision slowly drifted further and further away. This wasn't the correct order of events. At least, not yet it wasn't.

But regardless of the order of the events, the memories trigger one extremely important one.

 _...Kyo-kun's hand!_

Just the thought of his mangled hand brought a surge of nausea to the pit of her stomach. He'd lost an alarming amount of blood, from what she remembered.

 _Is he really okay? How much time has gone by? Has he lost any more blood? How could I pass out when Kyo-kun needed help?! I need to find Kyo-kun!_

Despite every fiber of her being protesting against movement, she forced her eyes open and slowly began trying to pry herself up.

The single conclusion she could safely draw about the room she was in was that it was no longer Herbology.

The only lighting of the room came from the two small windows opposite each other, which she assumed was the reason it was so drafty in here. The flooring tiles were a shade too dull to be considered sky blue, but were something to that effect. They crept halfway up the walls, where they met the chipped paint of a grungy white drywall that made up the other half of the walls. The majority of the room smelled strongly of disinfectant and rubbing alcohol, which only added to her nausea.

Across from her, sat a rather tall man in a computer chair a hair too small for him scribbling rhythmically with his back facing her. His hair color was on the boarder of black and brown, but her vision was still too blurry to tell just yet.

Once she finally was able to sit up, Tohru's arm clumsily tapped the railing of the bed she was lying in: a hospital bed. The noise made a small thump that must have grabbed the man's attention because he dropped his pen at once and swiveled around to face her. From behind, she hadn't been able to tell just how long his hair was. Now that she was seeing him up close, she could see his hair covered most of his face, but had been parted so that the longest bits of hair covered one of his eyes.

Tohru could recall several popular musicians in Japan that had this same hairstyle that covered one of their eyes.

 _This is in style for a lot of singers, isn't it? Maybe he's in a rock band! Maybe I'm meeting a rockstar!_ Tohru thought excitedly. Though, that wouldn't explain why he was wearing a lab coat, unless it was a stage-costume.

"I'm glad to see you're awake, Miss Honda," said the man in a deep voice she wouldn't expect from a singer. "In case you're wondering about where you are, you're in the nurse's office. I am the Kaibara's nurse, Hatori Sohma. Do you have any questions about the incident or your health?"

 _Another Sohma.._ Tohru thought absently as she studied his features, as if to confirm this statement. She felt her cheeks flush a light shade of pink. "U-um actually, Hatori-san, I was wondering about Kyo-kun..."

Hatori blinked in what she thought was surprise, though his face showed no trace of this. He didn't seem to be one for expressing emotions very fluidly. He cleared his throat before changing the topic, "That reminds me, you have some visitors, but they were whispering in an unnecessarily loud manner, so I kicked them out."

Tohru reached out a hand to grab his attention, but he was already out of the room before she could ask him to wait.

Within a matter of seconds, Tohru could hear inaudible arguing echoing through the hallway before she saw two familiar faces.

Both Yuki and Kyo ran at the door at the same time and rather than getting through, the boys' shoulders became wedged in between the doorway. Until one of them moved to allow the other past, neither of them would be able to get through. However, both boys remained where they were. They stayed stuck in the doorway with their shoulders pressing together uncomfortable as they aggressively bumped one another and even tried to push the other out of the doorway so they could enter first.

Finally, Kyo shouted, "Get outta here wouldya?! I was here **_first!"_**

"You were only here first because you landed your idiot self in the infirmary as well! Stop being ridiculous we can't both fit through the door!"

Having two friends who cared about her so much, they fought over who got to see her first was really touching, even if she didn't enjoy the _fighting_ part of it.

Seeing the two boys stuck together in a doorway, a solution that could easily be fixed if one of them would just back up and let the other enter roused a laugh from Tohru. Upon hearing her laugh, both boys tensed and stopped their arguing.

"I'm sorry, I-I don't mean to laugh. I really appreciate that you both took the time to visit me!" she said apologetically, quickly hovering her hand over her mouth as if she'd just cursed.

The silence that filled the room was broken as Yuki let out an exasperated sigh, as though he were about to do everyone a very noble favor. A loud, **_"OW!"_** from Kyo quickly followed and he stumbled forward gracelessly. He tenderly touched the small of his back, the area Yuki had apparently kneed to hurl him forward. Yuki ignored Kyo's glare as the two pulled up chairs next to Tohru's bedside and his look quickly transformed to one of concern.

"Do you feel any better, Miss Honda?" asked Yuki.

"Yeah, you really looked like you hit your head hard," said Kyo.

Tohru offered them a smile that she hoped looked better than she felt. "Ah, thank you, two, but I'm really fine! Good as new, now that Hatori's been so kind as to take care of me!"

"But wait! Kyo-kun your hand..!" she interrupted, unintentionally reaching for his hand. To her surprise, he held it out for her to take, even if he did look a little perplexed.

"My hand..?" he asked, his gaze fixated on her inspection of it. When she saw no cuts or marks, her lips curved into a frown and she began hazardously flipping his hand in all directions to find one.

"I don't understand," she said quietly, once she came to the fact she need to accept he had no marks on his hand. "The plant bit you so hard... How did you heal so quickly?"

Kyo raised his eyebrows at her before simply answering, "Magic." The simplicity of his answer and tone of his voice automatically made Tohru assume he was being sarcastic.

She must have still looked confused because Kyo pulled his hand away to tap the edge of his wand. "No, really. Magic."

Apparently, Yuki had taken offense to Tohru's confusion and was prepared for Kyo to take the blame. "Don't you have any shame? Miss Honda has just suffered a very traumatic event and you're already making jokes at her expense."

"YOU KNOW I'M NOT JOKING, YOU BASTARD! THAT'S HOW IT GOT HEALED! _MAGIC!"_ Kyo snapped back.

"Boys..." said Hatori's voice from the doorway, causing the two to jump. "If you have no business being here, your noise-level is disrupting my patient and I'll have to ask you to leave."

"I apologize for Kyo's noise level," Yuki said calmly enough to evoke a seething exhalation from Kyo. "But actually, we _did_ have a purpose for coming, Miss Honda. Since you missed most of Herbology class by... passing out, I thought I'd give you the notes for it. I may not look it, but I'm currently top of the Herbology class," Yuki said, throwing Tohru a brilliant smile, very much contrasting Kyo's eye roll.

"Anyway, we won't disturb you any longer. This clearly isn't the place to give them to you, so when you feel up to it, why don't you meet us at the library, so we can do some studying?"

"Well if you're done runnin' your damn mouth, let's go already," Kyo said, heading for the door. "It's not like we'll never see her again."

As Yuki stood from his seat, he offered Tohru a polite smile, said, "I'm glad you're feeling better, Miss Honda. I'll look forward to assisting you in your studies."

And with that, the two were gone.


	7. The Mysterious Case of the Cat

**Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your continuous patience and support! I'm so sorry for the long waits between my chapters. School often gets in the way of writing, but please know I greatly appreciate my readers! Thank you guys so much!**

* * *

At Yuki's request, Tohru sat patiently in one of the many empty seats of an elongated mahogany table in the heart of the library. The silence in the room was so profound, Tohru began to wonder if this, too, was enchanted in some way. If a spell could heal Kyo-kun's gushing hand with such ease, then there must be one that absorbed noise!

These thoughts were her only company. She smiled in vain at company that had yet to arrive. At the realization that she truly was along, a piece of Tohru's heart sank. She knew she had been sitting here for at least a half hour waiting for Yuki and Kyo. This feeling brought with it a vague nostalgia of a long forgotten memory. The memory of the Fruits Basket game she'd longed to play with her elementary peers came flooding back to her. Then, too, Tohru had waited patiently, politely for someone to call, 'riceball', and let her join their game the eager children, but to this day, no one had called, 'riceball,' and she had never played.

Surely, Yuki and Kyo weren't like that.

Just as she'd begun to lose hope, a strikingly white creature with contorted claws and a long, naked tail scurried across the table towards her at full speed. Tohru's heart thudded against her chest. She let out a small, startled yelp as the beast scampered closer to her. The creature skidded to a menacing halt that made Tohru's breath hitch. It was just then, during her moments of terror that she made out the rushed, ever-slanted cursive handwriting of her name right there on the creature's back.

Very carefully, Tohru reached out her hand to touch the writing on the beast's back. To her delight, it was not fur she felt, but the brittle crackle of paper against her skin. It had seemed the white that she'd assumed was the back of an animal was actually a card addressed to her.. But something was still lingering beneath it. The claw-like toes and limp tail snaked out from beneath the envelop, followed by whiskers, rounded ears, and a sleek, grey physique. "A **_rat_** …?" Tohru whispered aloud.

A librarian with outrageously crooked glasses shouted, "Who do you think you are, girl!? Didn't you see the no-pets policy!"

"Eh?! B-but it's not mine!" she stammered, awkwardly reaching for the card. When she opened the envelop, the card read this:

 _Miss Honda,_

 _My apologies for standing you up today._ _Kyo and I had a bit of an emergency and it looks like I won't be able to make it. I promise to help with your herbology homework another day._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Yuki_

 _Of course!_ Tohru thought. How selfish she'd been to think they had stood her up, when really the poor boys were going through an emergency! She brushed off what she hoped was the previous self-pity she'd felt as she stood, and headed into the herbology classroom. When she came out, a bouquet of vibrantly colored flowers filled her arms (though, she had gotten the permission of Professor Ritsu, of course).

She gently cradled the flowers in her arms as she walked the corridor of the Ravenclaw wing. Along her journey, she passed numerous talking portraitures, all sporting picture-perfect sapphire blue robes. Each one murmured to the next their theories about why a Hufflepuff girl might invade Ravenclaw territory, but none seemed to guess right. When she finally arrived, she was barricaded by the biggest portrait of them all: a man with long white hair and serpent-like eyes. "Ah, my child, you have made it thus far, but can you answer me a riddle?"

Tohru's eyes widened with anxiety. She had never answered a riddle before, but she assumed any Ravenclaw riddle would be much too challenging for a Hufflepuff like her. So instead, she shook her head. "Please let me in, Mister Portrait. I'm not trying to trick you or pass as a Ravenclaw. I couldn't even pretend to be that wise. I'm just trying to deliver a gift for my friends."

The portrait merely smiled as he slowly swung open. "That, my dear, is a very wise answer. True wisdom is being able to admit to your limitations. _You may enter."_

With a surprised and delighted bow, she entered the Ravenclaw common room. At her entrance, several Ravenclaws clapped. _"A Hufflepuff with brains!"_ cheered one. _"A girl!_ " cheered another. With a small blush, Tohru softly said, "Excuse me, but does anyone know where Yuki Sohma's room is?" One of the boys cocked his head partially with wonder, but pointed. "Through that door. His room's the very last one at the end of the hall."

Tohru was pleased to see that even without the boy's help, she would have guessed which room was Yuki's. The doorframe was almost entirely covered in constantly changing floral decorations, deep green ivy vines, and swaying flowers. Just as she was about to knock, the door abruptly swung open and collided with Yuki's bedroom wall.

Now that the door was open, Tohru caught a glance of the inside of the room. At first, Tohru worried Yuki had forgot to unpack. The room was entirely bare, aside from a mattress-less bed and barren desk in two corners. It wasn't until she glanced at the walls, however, that she realized all of Yuki's belongings were floating mysteriously in midair. Vases, pens, clothing, blankets, plant holders, and the like hovered eerily in the room with Yuki and Kyo standing in the midst of all of it. Tohru wondered if perhaps Yuki had placed some sort of odd spell on his room to make it this way, until she saw the wand clenched in Kyo's furious, white-knuckled hand.

"YOU STOLE IT! I KNOW IT WAS YOU!" screamed Kyo. Tohru could have been mistaken, but she thought she sensed heavy _anxiety_ in his tone.

"This is ridiculous. I never took anything, and you know it," Yuki replied, surprisingly calm for someone who was possibly about to be killed with his own belongings. "You're acting like a fool."

"YOU'RE LYING! YOU TOOK IT AND NOW YOU'RE GONNA _PAY_!" Kyo growled. Suddenly, an oversized glass planter soared towards Yuki's head with dangerous speed.

 ** _"No!_** " Tohru shouted. Before she even knew what she was doing, she flung herself forward and tackled Kyo from behind. It was a pretty pathetic, awkward tackle, but at least it startled him enough for him to loose his balance. Both her and Kyo tumbled to the ground. She should have landed with face burried into his shoulder blades, as he was much taller than she was. But instead, her face painfully hit the cold, hardwood floor of Yuki's room. When she looked down, Kyo was nowhere to be found. "Um… Kyo-kun..?" she asked with a dazed expression, patting the floor for evidence of the boy that had been there just a moment ago.

"For God's sake," Yuki grumbled, forcing his palm into his hand as Tohru franticly tossed Kyo's previously-worn robes behind her in search for him. Finally, her hands caught a soft, bright orange tuft of hair the exact color of Kyo's. She felt relieved. Or at least, she did until she lifted it up.

Because what she had lifted was not Kyo's unconscious head, as she had assumed. Instead, it was the slender, curved back of a bright orange tabby cat.


	8. The Ani-maggots

Tohru delicately and perplexedly lifted the cat up from under its arm sockets and studied it. The more she stared, the more apparent it became that the cat strongly resembled Kyo. Its fur was the exact shade of his hair, his eyes the same shade of crimson, and even the expression the cat wore looked to be one of displeasure. The resemblance was uncanny and impossible, but somewhere in her heart, Tohru thought she knew perfectly well that it was Kyo-kun in her arms.

She must have cast a bewildered expression Yuki's way because he simply sighed in a mix between disbelief and exasperation. He scanned both directions before soundlessly shut and locked his door. He then turned to one girl and one cat.

"Nicely done, Kyo, you blew our cover," Yuki scoffed, crossing his arms as he slumped against the door in frustration.

With astonishment, she realized he was looking at the cat when he said this, and with even further astonishment, the cat actually replied. "If you hadn't taken my-" Before Kyo could finish his feline sentence, Yuki snapped, "For the last time, I didn't take it! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to explain this mess you created to Miss Honda."

In an attempt to ease the tension, Tohru softly asked, "W-was it the hug that did it?" She felt her cheeks beginning to redden. Her embarrassment had forced her to change 'tackle' to 'hug'.

Kyo asked, "Is she joking..?" while Yuki simply chuckled. "Interesting guess, Miss Honda, but no, it wasn't a hug that did it."

"Please listen very carefully. You must promise never to tell a soul what I'm about to say to you right now…" Yuki said quietly. "I-I pinkie-promise!" she exclaimed, holding out her pinkie with determination.

Yuki scratched his head, but proceeded to lift his wand out of his pocket and began waving it around whilst murmuring. "It's a charm," Kyo explained before she even asked. "To make sure we're not overheard or anythin'." When Yuki's charm had fallen silent, he wrung his hands around his wand and turned back to Tohru. "Well, it seems you've learned our secret, Miss Honda. Kyo is an Animagus, as well as myself."

Tohru stared blankly at Yuki's explanation. "Ani…M-maggots?" she repeated. Even as a cat, Kyo gave her a look of disapproval. "Anima-GUS!" he tutted. "Yes.." Yuki agreed, in a tone that made it perfectly clear he was concerned for Tohru's mental health. "Anyway, since you obviously aren't familiar with the term, allow me to explain. An animagus is a wizard or witch that can transform into a specific animal. For example, Kyo transforms into a cat, and I transform into a rat."

"Wow, cool!" Tohru said, excitedly.

"Not cool," Kyo corrected. "It's illegal. And it's freaking hard to do."

"Oh.." she gasped in a hushed whisper now, despite fully knowing the charm would protect them against any eavesdroppers. "B-but why is it illegal?"

"It's illegal for a number of reasons," answered Yuki. "There are two main reasons for it, though. First, it's an exceptionally dangerous spell to preform. If preformed incorrectly without supervision, there's a good chance you will **die**." He gave Tohru a moment to let that sink in before continuing, "The second reason is that the Ministry of Magic, which is essentially the law creators and enforcers of magic, likes to keep a tight watch on the list of Animagi to ensure none of us are abusing their power to shapeshift and that we stay within the law."

"I see.." she murmured, now deep in thought. "Then, if it's so dangerous and illegal, may I ask why the two of you wanted to preform it in the first place?"

Kyo and Yuki shared a silent, meaningful glance with one another before Yuki tentatively spoke. Kyo averted his gaze. "I can't tell you much, but I will tell you this, Miss Honda: some things are far more dangerous and lethal than this spell."


	9. The Missing Beads

On the first day of his disappearance, Tohru sat patiently next to the empty seat that belonged to Kyo as echoing footsteps and inaudible chatter filled the Herbology classroom. At first, she thought he was simply running late. After all, he hadn't exactly shown a fondness for school or taken interest in arriving in a timely manner. The longer class drudged on, however, the more concerned Tohru became. Typically, she welcomed the dismissive bell, but today, it only legitimized Kyo's absence.

Per usual, a grinning Yuki was waiting to walk with her to her next class. His presence sent relief rushing through Tohru. S _ohma-kun will know why Kyo-kun's gone today,_ she thought optimistically. But it seemed that whenever she parted her lips to ask about Kyo, Yuki somehow interjected with polite small talk that diverted her attention from the situation at hand. At the very least, Tohru hoped to spot him at the Great Hall. She waited until the last of the lingering students trickled out of the dining area, but not one of them was Kyo.

The second day of Kyo's absence had Tohru frantically jerking her neck at the sound of every set of shoes pattering against the hardwood floor. Again, none of them were Kyo, and Yuki still had yet to mention it. The third day, her distress became _unbearable_. At the end of class, she gathered her textbooks, and as soon as she saw Yuki, she said, "Um, Sohma-kun? Do you know where Kyo-kun is?" Yuki hesitantly turned to face her, his polite smile flickering into a stern, thin line for a moment before reappearing. "He's missed so many class, I'm starting to worry.."

Yuki sighed in a way that gave the impression he had been holding it in for a while. "Kyo is.. **_an idiot_** , that's all," he decided, giving an indifferent shrug. "He's all right, though, I'm sure. I don't feel worried and neither should you. Kyo skipping class is nothing new, Miss Honda." Although Tohru believed it wasn't the first time Kyo had skipped class, she wondered why Yuki wouldn't look her in the eyes when he said it.

The day passed by quickly with no sight of Kyo, and even though she didn't have Astronomy with either of the boys, she still sensed Kyo's absence. Although most of the other students in Tohru's class disliked Professor Mayu for her mostly unfriendly nature and fondness for assigning homework, Tohru got along with her quite well. "Honda," Mayu called, dropping a fluttering stack of papers in front of Tohru. At first, Tohru worried Professor Mayu had slammed the papers in front of her in case she wasn't paying attention. On the off-chance that this was the case, she shot up from her seat with an unnecessary salute, "Y-yes, Professor?!"

"Take these to Doctor Hatori in the infirmary, will you?" she asked, a light blush spreading across her face at the mention of Hatori's name. Tohru's eyes lit up at Professor Mayu's hinted crush on Doctor Hatori, but she nodded and was on her way.

When she arrived at the infirmary, she considered knocking, only to remember that might wake ill patients that needed their rest. Instead, she surreptitiously turned the knob with all but a small groan of the hinges, and let herself in. She expected to be greeted by Doctor Hatori, but to her surprise, she was greeted by a different Sohma.

Tohru's breath hitched. There, lying in one of the many empty hospital beds was a very sickly Kyo. His signature tanned complexion had paled significantly since she had last seen him. His breathing seemed irregular, though it was hard to tell if that was because of poor health or severe stress. The worry lines on his forehead indicated the latter must be at least part of the reason. Between red-tinted watery eyes and the dark bags beneath them, exhaustion was written all over his face.

Part of her was relieved to see him for herself, but of course, she had never wanted to see him in the hospital. Tohru rushed over to the side of his bed, setting the papers on the empty cot next to him, and immediately grasped hold of his clammy hand. "Kyo-kun, are you all right?" she gasped. "Why are you in the infirmary?!"

"I'm fine," he said in a raspy voice. Tohru was a bit too oblivious to recognize the hand-holding made him uncomfortable, but his lack of energy forced him to summit to it regardless. "Just a little sick, that's all. Probably _the Black Cat Flu_ or somethin'.. I get it a lot, but I'll be back to kickin' your ass in Herbology before ya know it." He offered her a weak smile and although Tohru had no idea what _the Black Cat Flu_ was, she nodded caringly anyway.

"Well, if you say so, but..." Her voice trailed off for a moment as her gaze fell to his wrist. She had been so overwhelmed at the sight of her ill friend that the oddity of it hadn't immediately sunk in when she first saw him. At first glance, the only thing out of the ordinary about his wrist was the fact that the color had been drained from it. But with further consideration, she realized something was off: his wrist was bare. Up until this moment, she had never seen Kyo without his bracelet. And considering his hysterical overreaction when the girl in Herbology had attempted to wipe his blood off it, Tohru doubted it was off by choice. "Kyo-kun, _your bracelet_..." she whispered.

Without hesitation, Kyo weakly pulled his wrist from her grip. He said nothing, but his eyes sparkled with an emotion she didn't quite recognize. She couldn't help but reply the odd exchange between Yuki and Kyo from a few days prior in her head, " _YOU STOLE IT! I KNOW IT WAS YOU!"_

Now she understood. "Kyo-kun, is your bracelet missing?" she asked quietly. It was in that moment that she realized the emotion in his eyes was **_fear_**.

"Don't worry, we'll find it soon," she assured him. "You don't understand," he said so softly, she had to lean in to hear him, "I can't wait that long. _I need it_ _ **now."**_


End file.
